Clothing Swap, Femme Fatale

2023, (00:01:38), digital, color, sound

Femme Fatale Clothing Swap began as a photojournalism project and in doing so created this photo essay.

​Music and happy chatter spills out onto the street of Connecticut Ave from a small, hole-in-the-wall shop in Northwest, Washington, DC. Outside the weather is frigid and you can see sidewalk shoppers breath condense in the air before being swept away by a cold breeze. Passerby’s huddle into the coats, hats and mittens firmly held on as they trek up the street, a few pause to look quizzically into the little shop called Femme Fatale. The store is owned by a collective and the word ‘grassroots retail’ snake across the window pane. With its colorfully adorned windows, numerous plants and twinkle lights the shop seems like a friendly, warm oasis in the winter months of DC. 

Inside the store smiling people mill about from table to table taking in the freshly cleaned clothing folded onto the tables. Each piece of clothing was donated by another person in the store and anyone who attends is free to pick out their favorite pieces to take home with themself, free of charge. There is also a station with scissors, accessories, and sewing equipment so that the patrons might recycle scraps into a refreshed DIY look. This event was created by DC native queer folks for other queer folks and specifically to center trans and non-binary people who are in search of gender euphoria through clothing. What may seem like a regular button up to you or me could mean feeling at peace and confidence for a trans-masculaine person, who can live out and be proud-even on a budget. 

The organizer of the event, AnaMarie King, flits from patron to patron with a wide smile on her face. AnaMarie shared with me earlier that she was inspired to hold the event to “encourage low-waste, knowledge-sharing, community and collaboration.” With climate change and climate justice at the forefront of our minds now more than ever this free clothing swap is a wonderful opportunity to save clothes from the landfill while also helping queer folks find comfortable clothing and community.

© Elizabeth Green 2024